MS Environmental Health (EH) student, Jamil Blackmon, continues to perform water sampling this summer at the Town Creek in Greenville, NC for his research project and his thesis.  Dr. Charles Humphrey leads the research project and serves as Jamil’s thesis adviser.  The project investigates on the benzene concentration in the water of Town Creek and in the air offgassing from the soil near the “seep” area where hydrocarbon contamination is apparent.  In addition, Jamil collects and analyzes water samples for fecal bacteria, such as E. coli and enterococci.  The Town Creek feeds into the Tar River and, thus, this study aims to determine if there is public health and environmental health threat related to such contamination, as benzene is a known human carcinogen.  Dr. Humphrey has recently submitted a research proposal to expand this project, with the goal of collecting more water and air samples for benzene analysis, and of installing more groundwater wells to monitor water upstream of the creek.

Check out the video on the Town Creek project showing Jamil’s research experience on water sampling and monitoring.

YouTube Video: ECU MS Environmental Health student on water sampling for benzene analysis